Profiling method and system

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to a method and system for profiling recipients into recipient categories on the basis of responses to content items provided to users. The profiling is based on rankings that are assigned to the content items, recipient categories, links between the content items and links between the content items and recipient categories. In one embodiment the ranking of a given content item is calculated on the basis of rankings of other content items having a link to the given content item, together with the ranking of the link between the content items, while the ranking of a given respondent in respect of a given recipient category is calculated on the basis of rankings of content items and/or categories that have a link to that recipient category. The links between content items and to the recipient categories indicate a particular response, by the respondent, in respect of content items. The recipients are profiled with respect to the recipient categories on the basis of the rankings assigned to the recipient categories.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates generally to profiling of recipients, and moreparticularly, to a method for profiling recipients on the basis ofresponses given by the recipients to content items delivered to therecipients.

BACKGROUND

Conventional methods for delivering advertisement data typically involvebroadcasting messages to mass markets. This is usually described as a“Spray and Pray” approach, wherein the advertisement data is deliveredto a wide audience and it is hoped that the advertisement data will bereceived by a sufficient number of potential recipients that areappropriate targets of the advertisement. Although an advertiser maytake steps to ensure that the advertisement data is delivered viachannels that traditionally are expected to reach a significantconcentration of potential recipients, there is nevertheless little orno means to guarantee that the advertisement data is delivered to mostappropriate recipients. An example of conventional mass marketingstrategy is delivery of advertisement data through television channelsand inclusion of the advertising data into commonly visited Internetwebsites.

Direct mailing campaigns via traditional mail and via electronic mailare considered to be more accurate in delivering advertisementinformation to targeted individuals and/or groups. In addition to theconventional electronic mail it is possible to use other electronicmessage delivery means for delivery of advertisement data, for exampleSMS-messages (Short Message Service) or MMS-messages (Multi MediaService) that can be delivered via a mobile communication network.Sending advertisement messages to recipients via a mobile communicationnetwork in a large scale causes often a lot of situations in which acertain advertisement message is received by an individual that is farfrom an optimal target for that advertisement message. For example, amessage advertising large cars such as suburban vehicles (SUV) may bereceived by an environmentally conscious person that has adopted anattitude of hostility to such cars. In order to avoid situations of thekind described above or at least to minimise the amount of suchsituations there is a need to profile the recipients in such a mannerthat advertisement messages can be targeted to suitable recipients.

The profiling of the recipients can be based on answers given by therecipients to questions that have been delivered to the recipients e.g.via a communication network. Furthermore, the profiling can be based ondemographic data related to the recipients. The answers to the questionsand possibly also the demographic data constitutes raw data with the aidof which the recipients are categorised. In a situation in which thereis only one question or only a few questions, the profiling may be toocoarse or, in some cases, even misleading. For example, a question maybe “Do you think the environment is important: Yes/No?”. Most of thepeople would answer “Yes” to this question albeit their actions and/orattitudes do not support that because the answer “No” would indicateexceptional egomania. From the advertisement point of view this “Yes”answer would lead to addressing ecologically friendly products to suchrecipients who would actually, for example, drive a SUV with a largeconsumption of gas and/or practise other behaviour that is far fromenvironmental. In a situation in which there are a large number ofquestions, the number of different answer combinations gets high. Forexample, if there are N questions each of which having Manswer-alternatives, the number of different answer combinations isM^(N). From the viewpoint of practical needs, the number of differentrecipient categories into which the recipients will be profiled has tobe substantially smaller than the number of different answercombinations (M^(N)). Therefore, the different answer combinations haveto be mapped to a lower number of recipient categories in a manner thatprovides a sufficiently veracious profiling of the recipients.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basicunderstanding of some aspects of various invention embodiments. Thesummary is not an extensive overview of the invention. It is neitherintended to identify key or critical elements of the invention nor todelineate the scope of the invention. The following summary merelypresents some concepts of the invention in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description below.

In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention, a method, asystem, a database, and a computer program are provided for profilingrecipients into pre-determined recipient categories. The profiling isbased at least partly on link rankings that are defined accordingpre-determined rules for content items delivered to the recipients andfor the recipient categories. The content items can be embodied asmessages containing data prompting the recipient for a response. Anexample of a content item can be an advertisement, which can beconsidered to implicitly contain a question in the sense that it promptsthe recipient to respond with what can be considered an answer that isintrinsically linked to the content of the question.

The supporting and/or the implementation of the functionality forprofiling the recipients are/is achieved by a combination of featuresrecited in each independent claim. Accordingly, dependent claimsprescribe further detailed implementations of the present invention.

Various exemplifying embodiments of the invention together withadditional objects and advantages will be best understood from thefollowing description of exemplifying embodiments when read inconnection with the accompanying drawings.

The exemplifying embodiments of the invention presented in this documentare not to be interpreted to pose limitations to the applicability ofthe appended claims. The verb “to comprise” is used in this document asan open limitation that does not exclude the existence of also unrecitedfeatures. The features recited in depending claims are mutually freelycombinable unless otherwise explicitly stated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The exemplifying embodiments of the invention and their advantages areexplained in greater detail below with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

FIG. 1 shows a high-level flow chart of a method according to anembodiment of the invention for profiling recipients;

FIG. 2 a is a schematic diagram showing an example of questions andcategories used to profile respondents;

FIG. 2 b is a schematic diagram showing an example of a profilingnetwork comprising links between the questions and categories of FIG. 2a;

FIG. 2 c is a schematic diagram showing an alternative profiling networkcomprising links between the questions and categories of FIG. 2 a;

FIG. 3 a is a schematic diagram showing a first example of paths tracedthrough the profiling network of FIG. 2 b;

FIG. 3 b is a schematic diagram showing a second example of paths tracedthrough the profiling network of FIG. 2 b;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a distributed system within whichembodiments of the invention operate;

FIG. 5 is a schematic diagram showing components of the profiling systemof FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 a shows a diagram illustrating an exemplifying pre-determinedrule according to which links pointing to questions and to recipientcategories can be set in a method according to an embodiment of theinvention;

FIG. 6 b shows a diagram illustrating exemplifying links that have beenset according to the pre-determined rule of FIG. 2 b in a methodaccording to an embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 7 shows a diagram illustrating exemplifying links that have beenset according to a pre-determined rule in a method according to anembodiment of the invention;

FIG. 8 shows a diagram illustrating exemplifying links that have beenset according to a pre-determined rule in a method according to anembodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 9 shows a diagram illustrating exemplifying links that have beenset according to one or more pre-determined rules in a method accordingto an embodiment of the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EXEMPLIFYING EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a high-level flow chart of a method according to anembodiment of the invention for profiling one or more recipients intoone or more recipient categories. The recipient categories can be forexample: “environmental mindset” and “gender”. The content items can beembodied as messages containing data prompting the recipient for aresponse. An example of a content item can be an advertisement, whichcan be considered a form of question: e.g. an image showing a floristshop and a suggestion that the recipient might be seeking a job inassociation with the florist shop; or e.g. an image showing a SUV,suggesting that the recipient might like further information relating tothe SUV. In FIG. 1 these are shown in the form of questions that weparaphrase here as: “Would you like to drive a suburban vehicle?Yes/No”, “Wanna be a florist?”, “Bottled water or tap water?”, or “Whatis your age in years?” etc. The task is to profile the recipient orrecipients into one or more of the recipient categories on the basis ofthe responses given by the recipient or recipients to the content itemssent to the recipient or recipients. In the following embodiments,content items are conveniently referred to as questions, but it is to beunderstood that these are a non-limiting example of such.

As can be seen from FIG. 1, the method can be broadly characterised ascomprising a plurality of phases 101, 102, 103, each of which can beprocessed independently of the other and can be triggered part-waythrough the operation of other phases. Phase 101 comprises receivingand/or defining questions to be used in identifying recipientcategories, and indeed receiving and/or defining these categories.Questions and categories can be defined at any time and/or retrievedfrom a repository holding same. Phase 102 comprises specifying linksbetween the questions and categories so as to create a network of nodesrepresented by questions and categories, together with specifyingvalues. A link value may include a link ranking and/or a link weightingcorresponding to the link. A link ranking is a parameter indicative ofthe relationship between connected nodes (i.e. questions and/orquestions->categories and/or categories->categories) in the network,while a link weighting is a parameter indicative of the relativeimportance of a given link emanating from a given node compared todifferent links emanating from the same given node.

An example of the output of phase 101 is shown in FIG. 2 a, where nodescorresponding to categories are depicted differently to nodescorresponding to questions. The output of phase 102, a profiling networkN1, is shown in FIG. 2 b for the case where only some links have beenspecified between nodes, and the links that exist have been assignedlink rankings but not link weightings.

As mentioned briefly above, it is to be noted that questions can beretrieved according to Phase 101 at any time, and indeed the design ofthe network can be amended according to Phase 102 at any time, either toaccount for newly added questions and/or to change the link rankingsapplied to existing questions. Indeed, FIG. 2 c shows a differentnetwork of links between the nodes, where Q2 is linked to category C1but an answer of No and a link ranking of ⅓, while Q1 is linked tocategory C2 with a link ranking of value 1.0.

Phase 103 involves collecting answers to the questions and tracing apath through the network on the basis of the collected answers so as toassign category values to the respondents. As an alternative to tracinga path on the basis of actual answers, paths can be identified on thebasis of a set of hypothetical answers which may, for example, bespecified in a log file or similar. Tracing paths through the network N1can be visualised as activating links through the network. An exemplaryset of paths is shown in FIG. 3 a for answers received from a firstrespondent in relation to the network shown in FIG. 2 b: from thisexample it can be seen that the previously dashed lines have becomesolid lines, thereby indicating paths through the profiling network N1for this respondent, which terminate at the categories C1, C2. Thevalues of the link rankings for the paths are combined so as to enablecalculation of values for each of the categories, and thereby provide ameasure of correlation for the respondent to a particular category. Forexample, in the case of respondent 1, his correlation with the gendercorresponding to C1 is ⅓, while his correlation with the environmentalmindset corresponding to C2 is ⅓+½=0.833. A second exemplary set ofpaths is shown in FIG. 3 b for answers received from a secondrespondent, who provided quite different answers to those provided bythe first respondent. Accordingly, his correlation with the gendercorresponding to C1 is ⅓+½=0.833, while his correlation with theenvironmental mindset category C2 is 0.

Whilst the examples shown in FIGS. 2 a-3 b are representative of aprofiling network comprising only a few nodes, it will be appreciatedthat a typical profile updating exercise is likely to involve a networkcomprising hundreds of nodes and a commensurate number of linkstherebetween. In addition, respondents are likely to provide theirresponses via a range of communications mediums and from a range ofdevices. Accordingly, and in order to process the data received fromsuch respondents in a scalable manner, the steps involved in Phases 102and 103 are performed by various components of a distributed computersystem such as that shown in FIG. 4.

FIG. 4 shows a typical communications network 6, 10 that comprises or isconnected to a distributed system according to an embodiment of theinvention for profiling actual or potential respondents, e.g. 2, 4. Inthe arrangement shown in FIG. 4, a terminal 2 communicates with variousnetwork devices via the mobile network 6, which comprises: aconventional radio and switching network comprising base stations;switches (not shown) arranged in a conventional manner; and a homelocation register (HLR) for maintaining data relating to subscribers ofthe network. The mobile network 6 also comprises a billing system 15 forholding Call Detail Records (CDRs) relating to network services used bysubscribers of the network 6 and store-and-forward message servers MMSC,SMSC 14, 16 configured to store and forward messages in accordance withconventional methods. The terminal 2 may be a wireless terminal such asa mobile phone, a laptop computer or a PDA. The data messaging system 1also comprises a WAP gateway 8, which is typically a network operator'sWAP gateway, and a registration services server S1, with which aterminal, typically connected to the Internet 10, communicates viainternet gateway 12 to enable a given potential respondent to subscribeto the profiling service according to embodiments of the invention.

In embodiments of the invention it is assumed that the questionsutilized to form a profiling network N1 are available from sources suchas exemplary server S3, and thence stored in data storage 20 forretrieval by a profiling system S2 for formulating a profiling networkN1 of questions and for delivery as messages M1 via the communicationsnetwork 6, 10; similarly, the responses M2 to the questions can bereceived and stored in database 21, while the links defining a givenprofiling network, together with associated link rankings and linkweightings can be stored in database 22. It is to be appreciated thatwhile these databases are shown as distinct entities, they couldalternatively be part of an integrated storage system. Similarly, whilethe profiling system S2 is shown as being embodied in a single serverS2, it is to be understood that the profiling system could bedistributed between different devices according to the functionalityrequired to a) process the questions, b) form a profiling network, andc) receive and process responses according to the profiling network.Further these different devices on which embodiments of the inventionare configured could include web servers and/or store and forwarddevices such as the SMSC 16 and MMSC 14 shown in FIG. 4.

Whilst shown as a mobile network 6 and the Internet 10, thecommunications network can be a mobile communication network capable ofsupporting, for example, one or more of the following communicationprotocols: GSM (Global System Mobile), WCDMA (Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access), GPRS (General Packet Radio Service). In addition to orinstead of the mobile communication network, a local area network suchas a Wireless Local area network (WLAN) or BlueTooth® (BT) and/or othertechnologies such as WiMax, Broadcasting over DVB-H (Digital VideoBroadcasting-Handhelds), ISDB-T (Integrated Services DigitalBroadcasting for Terrestrial television broadcasting), DMB (DigitalMedia Broadcasting) or broadcasting over cellular can be used. Thecommunication network can be also a combination of two or moretechnologies i.e. hybrid communication network. The communicationnetwork can also be arranged to support generic Internet access usingany transport methods. The questions and the answers given to questionscan be transferred in the electrical communication network, for example,as SMS-messages (Short Message Service), MMS-messages (Multi MediaService), Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) pages, Internet pages,HTML (Hypertext Mark-up Language) pages, XHTML (eXtended HTML) pages,IP-datagrams (Internet Protocol), or email letters (electronic mail).

In some embodiments of the invention it is assumed that the user of theterminal 2 is a subscriber of the profiling service according toembodiments of the invention, and that subscribers have entered dataindicative of at least some of demographic data, preferences andinterests, these data being received and stored by the registrationserver S1 in the subscriber database 24. As described above, thesubscriber database 24 can be associated with a HLR for the mobilenetwork 6: in a preferred arrangement, the preference data can be storedin a logically distinct storage area to that in which the networkservices and subscription data are stored, thereby decoupling thestorage of preference data from the storage of the profiling networkdata. Alternatively the user can choose not to enter any preferencedata, in which case messages can be selected at random and a profilebuilt up on real time (on the fly) based on responses to the messages.

Turning now to FIG. 5, an arrangement of the profiling system S2 willnow be described in more detail: in addition to standard CPU, memory,data bus, Input/Output ports, data storage, and operating systemprograms, the server S2 comprises various bespoke software components501, 503, 505, 507 which retrieve data from the various databases 20,21, 22 in order to generate a network of linked questions andcategories, to formulate messages comprising the questions, and toprocesses responses from recipients thereof in order to trace pathsthrough the network N1 according to embodiments of the invention. Morespecifically, the network generating component 501 queries database 20to retrieve questions and categories stored therein, and, on the basisof rules associated with the questions, creates links between thequestions and categories. As described briefly above with reference toPhase 102, creation of a profiling network can be triggered at any time,and on the basis of events such as receipt of a certain number ofquestions from a given source S3; receipt of a certain number ofresponses from respondents; an amount of time having passed since thenetwork N1 was last created; receipt of a new or amended set ofinter-question linking rules and/or link rankings and/or linkweightings; and/or manual triggers from whichever entity is responsiblefor managing generation of the profiling network N1. The profilingnetwork N1, specifically the links, link rankings and link weightings,where appropriate, between the questions and categories making up thenetwork N1 so created is then stored in the database 22, preferablytogether with a profiling network identifier and a timestamp indicatinga time at which the network N1 was created.

Further, the links can be derived on the basis of data related to theanswers given to the questions, as identified by the message processingcomponent 505, described below. Data related to an answer can includefor example: the content of the answer, a location where a recipient wassituated when giving the answer, a point of time (a time of day, a dayof week, etc) when the answer has been given, and/or a temporal delayfrom a moment of delivering the question to a recipient to a moment whenthe answer has been given. Such automated derivation of the links basedon feedback from responses to questions can be performed by the linkingcomponent 503, which can additionally set several links betweenquestions Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4 . . . on the basis of data related to an answergiven to the question Q1. The information that indicates how the linksare to be set can be included, for example, in metadata associated withthe question Q1. The linking rules so derived can be stored in thedatabase 20, for future use by the network generating component 501 orcan trigger the network generating component 501 to perform real timegeneration of a profiling network N1. Yet further, links can beassociated with time-to-live conditions. For example, a link may bedefined to be valid only for a limited time interval after setting thelink and to be removed after the limited time interval has elapsed.

Turning now to the distribution of the questions to recipients, themessage processing component 505 is arranged to retrieve questions fromthe database 20 and formulate messages M1 associated therewith fortransmission to recipients via the communications network. In anarrangement according to an embodiment of the invention, the messageprocessing component 503 is arranged to select one or more recipients tobe targets of a predetermined action as a response to a situation inwhich rankings of the recipient categories fulfill a pre-determinedcondition. The pre-determined action can be, for example, anadvertisement campaign related to a specified product or service, anoffer to provide a specified product or service for a reduced price, orsending a set of pre-determined questions to the selected recipients inorder to collect further information about the selected recipients. Inaddition the message processing component 505 is arranged to processreceived responses M2 to the questions (i.e. answers to questions), andto store the responses, in association with an identifier associatedwith the respondent, in a database 21 for use by the network processingcomponent 507 and the linking component 503 in the manner describedabove.

FIG. 6 a shows an exemplifying profiling network N1, according to whichlinks to questions Q1-Q10 and to recipient categories C1-C3 have beenset by the network generating component 501 on the basis of linkingrules stored in the database 20. For example, a question Q1 can beanswered with three alternative answers A1(1), A1(2), and A1(3). Forexample Q1 can be “Do you use milk products?”, A1(1) can be “Yes, verymuch”, A1(2) can be “Yes quite a lot”, and A1(3) can be “A little”. Itcan be seen from FIG. 6 a that Q1 has a link to Q6, to Q7, and to Q8when Q1 is answered with A1(1), Q1 has a link only to Q2 when Q1 isanswered with A1(2), and Q1 has a link only to Q9 when Q1 is answeredwith A1(3). Each of these links is associated with a link ranking in themanner described above, with a configurable value specified in thedatabase 20. In addition each of the links can be associated with linkweightings, which weights the various links relative to one another. Thequestions Q6, Q7, and Q8 can be, for example, questions that are usedfor surveying what kind of milk products are being used by a recipientor recipients that answers/answer the questions Q1-Q10. In thisexemplifying case, importance is given to questions that are used forsurveying what kind of milk products are being used when a question “Doyou use milk products?” is answered with “Yes, very much”. The otherlinks can be set in the same way, so that for example, Q10 has a link torecipient categories C2 and C3 when Q10 is answered with A10(1).

In the foregoing, each link that set according to an answer to aquestion is a “positive link” that gives importance to a linked questionor recipient category. It is also possible that a link is a “negativelink” that decreases the importance of a linked question or recipientcategory, whereby a certain answer to a certain question decreasesimportance, i.e. ranking, of another question or a recipient category.Such link rankings can be pre-specified or specified on the basis ofresponse messages; for example, in relation to the latter scenario, alack of answer can be defined to represent a situation in which no linkis set or the lack of answer can be defined to correspond to setting alink in a same manner as an answer. For example, a link from Q3 to Q6can be conditional upon Q3 being answered with A3(1), links from Q3 toQ9 and to Q10 can be conditional upon Q3 being answered with A3(2), anda link from Q3 to Q8 can be conditional upon a null response in respectof Q3.

In the profiling network N1 created by the network generating component501 and shown in FIG. 6 a, a ranking is assigned to each question on thebasis of link rankings associated with answers to other questions thathave a link to that question. For the particular implementation shown inFIG. 6 a, questions Q1, Q3, Q5 are not pointed to by any links and thusthese questions Q1, Q3, Q5 cannot inherit link rankings from any otherquestions. In order to avoid a trivial solution in which all the linkrankings of the questions Q1-Q10 and of the recipient categories C1-C3are zero, initial rankings are assigned to at least the non-pointedquestions Q1, Q3, Q5. The initial rankings can be a same value (a realnumber) for all the questions Q1, Q3, Q5 or question-specific initialrankings can be assigned to different questions Q1, Q3, Q5. Thequestion-specific initial rankings can be determined, for example, onthe basis of demographic data related to a recipient or recipients.

It is also possible to assign constant or question-specific initialrankings to all the answers to questions Q1-Q10 and to assign constantor recipient category specific initial rankings to all the recipientcategories C1-C3. Without limiting generality, it can be assumed thatfor questions having no initial link from another question, R₀(Qi)=0.The same applies for the recipient categories. It is also possible thata certain question or a certain recipient category has a negativeinitial ranking A negative initial ranking means a purposive reductionof importance of an answer to a particular question or recipientcategory (and of answers to those questions and/or recipient categoriesthat are pointed by that question or recipient category provided that ahigher value of link ranking is defined to mean higher importance (bycontrast if a lower value of link ranking were defined to mean higherimportance, the situation would be reversed)).

As described above, whilst the network generating component 501 createsa network N1 of the form shown in FIG. 6 a based on the linkinginformation, the actual paths through the network N1, and thus actualrankings R(Q1)-R(Q10) associated with paths and categories linkedthereto, are calculated by the network processing component 507 whenresponses to the questions have been received so as to generate categoryvalues based on the actual path traced through the profiling network N1.An example of the paths traced through the network N1 is shown in FIG. 6b, as indicated by the fact that certain of the dotted lines shown inFIG. 6 a are now presented as solid lines.

As an alternative, the profiling network N1 can be pre-processed, thatis to say that hypothetical paths can be traced through the network N1,each representing a set of answers relating to one or more respondents,thereby enabling any given respondent to be profiled on the basis of hisanswers in an expedient fashion. Whilst either situation is possible,for illustrative purposes it will be assumed that the responses havebeen received from respondents tracing the paths indicated in FIG. 6 b.The rankings of the questions Q1-Q10, respectively, can be calculated,for example, as follows:

R(Q1)=R ₀(Q1),

R(Q2)=R ₀(Q2),

R(Q3)=R ₀(Q3),

R(Q4)=R ₀(Q4),

R(Q5)=R ₀(Q5),

R(Q6)=R ₀(Q6)+R(Q1)+R(A1(1))/3+R(Q3)+R(A3(1)),

R(Q7)=R₀(Q7)+R(Q1)+R(A1(1))/3+R(Q2)+R(A2(2))/2+R(Q4)+R(A4(2))/2+R(Q6)+R(A6(2))/2,

R(Q8)=R ₀(Q8)+R(Q1)+R(A1(1))/3+R(Q2)+R(A2(2))/2,

R(Q9)=R ₀(Q9)+R(Q4)+R(A4(2))/2+R(Q8)+R(A8(2))/2,

and

R(Q10)=R ₀(Q10)+R(Q5)+R(A5(3))/2.  (1)

Two things are to be noted in relation to this example:

-   -   1. Only one of the possible answers to any given question has        been received from the respondents (taking Q1, only answer A1(1)        is shown, whereas, as can be seen from FIG. 6 a, there are two        other possible answers, A1(2) and A1(3)).    -   2. The link rankings for particular answers to questions have        been equally split between the number of questions to which the        answers are linked (e.g. link ranking between questions Q1 and        Q6 is R(A1(1))/3 because answer A1(1) to question Q1 is linked        to three different questions, Q6, Q7, Q8).        However, and as demonstrated by the simplified example shown in        FIG. 2 b, there is no requirement for the sum of the link        rankings associated with all answers to a given question to sum        to one, or for the link rankings to be equally distributed        between the answers to the questions. Indeed the linking        information can be specified in any manner (as mentioned several        times above). Furthermore it will be appreciated that typically        different answers to any given question will be received from a        range of respondents. Indeed, when taking account of the fact        that there are three possible answers to Q1 (A1(1), A1(2),        A1(3)), and assuming each of the possible answers to be equally        weighted, R(Q6) can alternatively be expressed as        R(Q6)=R₀(Q6)+R(Q1)+R(A1(1))/3+R(Q3)+R(A3(1)).

Working with the set of question rankings of equation (1), the categoryrankings R(C1)-R(C3) of the recipient categories C1-C2, respectively,can be calculated, for example, as follows:

R(C1)=R ₀(C1)+R(Q7)+R(A7(2))

R(C2)=R ₀(C2)+R(Q6)+R(A6(2))/2+R(Q10)+R(A10(1))/2,

and

R(C3)=R ₀(C3)+R(Q8)+R(A8(2))/2+R(Q9)+R(A9(2))+R(Q10)+R(A10(1))/2+R₀(Q5)+R(A5(3))/2.  (2)

The network processing component 507 is arranged to profile respondentsinto the recipient categories C1-C3 on the basis of the categoryrankings R(C1)-R(C3) calculated from the responses, and a measure ofcorrelation of a given respondent with each category is given by thevalues output in relation to equations (2). Thus the output of equations(2) indicates which one of the recipient categories C1-C3 matches bestwith the recipient or recipients.

If for example R(C1)>R(C2)>R(C3), the recipient category C1 matches bestwith the recipient or recipients and the recipient category C2 matchessecondly best with the recipient or recipients (if a higher value ofranking is defined to mean higher importance). If for exampleR(C1)=R(C2)>R(C3) and there is a need to select one recipient category,the selection between C1 and C2 can be made, for example, on the basisof demographic or other data related to the recipient or recipients.

It is also possible to select a pricing structure that is used forpricing services or products on the basis of rankings of the recipientcategories calculated for a recipient or recipients. For example, amobile operator that is financed with e.g. commercials related tooutdoor activities may use more customer-friendly pricing policy forthose subscribers (recipients) whose ranking of a recipient category“interested in outdoor activities” is above a pre-determined limit valuethan for other subscribers in order to maintain and strengthen customerconnections with those subscribers who are good targets for advertisingcampaigns distributed by the mobile operator. It is also possible toselect or tailor an action that will be targeted to one or morerecipients on the basis of a ranking assigned to a certain recipientcategory or rankings assigned to certain recipient categories.

For example, the recipient category may be “Environmental mindset”, asexemplified in FIG. 2 a. An advertising campaign related to large carswith a high gas consumption is targeted preferably to recipients havingthe ranking below a first pre-determined limit value, an advertisingcampaign related to medium cars with a moderate gas consumption istargeted preferably to recipients having the category ranking above thefirst pre-determined limit value but below a second pre-determined limitvalue, and an advertising campaign related to small cars with a low gasconsumption is targeted preferably to recipients having the categoryranking above the second pre-determined limit value. Identification ofrespondents having category values above the predefined limits can beperformed by the network processing component 507.

In a method according to an embodiment of the invention, the rankings ofrespondents in respect of the various categories are sent to an externaldevice in order to enable the external device to select the one or morerecipients to be targets of a pre-determined action as a response to asituation in which the category rankings of the recipient categoriesfulfil a pre-determined condition.

As described above, a profiling network N1 is created on the basis oflinking information stored in the database 20 (or specified inreal-time, as a network is being built). Thus, whilst the database 20might contain a set of questions relating to a variety of differentproducts, when a profiling network N1 is being generated in relation toa given product type, the linking rules are likely to specify a type ofquestion, namely one suitable to the given product type, so as togenerate a network of questions that are relevant to the product inquestion. FIG. 7 shows a diagram illustrating an alternative set ofresponses for a profiling network N1 similar to that shown in FIG. 6 a.Inspection of FIG. 7 shows that, while present in the database 20,questions Q8 and Q9 have been omitted from the network N1 because thesequestions are not considered relevant from the viewpoint of the givenproduct; the database may include a rule to this effect in the database20, which, when processed by the network generating component 501,causes the network N1 to be built without these questions. For example,the product in question may relate to food (and the questions relate toeating habits), whereas the questions Q8 and Q9 may relate to motoroils.

It is also possible that one or more questions are excluded from thenetwork N1 because an advertiser, who has ordered an advertisementcampaign in relation to a given product, is not willing to pay formessages containing questions Q8 and Q9 to be sent to recipients. Forexample, in the situation shown in FIG. 7 the advertiser might have beenunwilling to pay for answers given to the questions Q8 and Q9.

For the example shown in FIG. 7, which represents a particular set ofresponses received (in respect of a profiling network similar to theprofiling network N1 of FIG. 6 a, but without questions Q8 and Q9), therankings of the questions can be calculated, for example, as follows:

R(Q1)=R ₀(Q1),

R(Q2)=R ₀(Q2),

R(Q3)=R ₀(Q3),

R(Q4)=R ₀(Q4),

R(Q5)=R ₀(Q5),

R(Q6)=R ₀(Q6)+R(A1(1))/2+R(Q1)+R(A3(1))+R(Q3),

R(Q7)=R₀(Q7)+R(A1(1))/2+R(Q1)+R(A2(2))+R(Q2)+R(A4(2))+R(Q4)+R(Q6)+R(A6(2))/2 2,

and

R(Q10)=R ₀(Q10)+R(A5(3))/2+R(Q5).  (3)

The rankings of the recipient categories C1-C2 can be calculated, forexample, as follows:

R(C1)=R ₀(C1)+R(A7(2))+R(Q7),

R(C2)=R ₀(C2)+R(A6(2))/2+R(Q6)+R(A10(1))/2+R(Q10),

and

R(C3)=R ₀(C3)+R(A10(3))/2+R(Q10)+R(Q5(3))/2+R(Q5).  (4)

By comparing equations (3) and (4) with equations (1) and (2) it canclearly be seen that the category rankings R(C1), R(C2), and R(C3) mayhave different values when Q8 and Q9 are omitted from the network N1even if the initial link rankings R₀(Q1)-R₀(Q10) were the same in bothnetworks.

As mentioned above, in addition or as an alternative to rankings, linksmay carry link weightings. When link weighting information is specified,the network processing component 507 is arranged to multiply linkrankings and categories rankings with link weighting factors so as togenerate category values.

FIG. 8 shows a further alternative profiling network N1, comprising sixquestions, each being linked to other questions and categories accordingto specified linking rules. As shown in FIG. 8, the ranking of at leastone of the questions depends on not only the rankings of those otherquestions that have a link to that question but also on the rankings ofthose recipient categories (in this example category C2) that have alink to that question. Correspondingly, the ranking of at least one ofthe recipient categories depends on not only the link rankings ofanswers to questions that have a link to that recipient category butalso on rankings of those other recipient categories that have a link tothat recipient category.

Each link has been associated with a link weight factor, e.g. w(Q4, Q1)that can be used for increasing or decreasing a level of link rankingfrom a pointing question (or recipient category) to a pointed question(or recipient category). Values of the link weighting factors can bedefined, for example, on the basis of demographic data related to therecipients. The equations for the rankings can be formulated, forexample, as follows:

R(Q1)=R ₀(Q1),

R(Q2)=R ₀(Q2)+w(Q2,Q6)×R(Q6),

R(Q3)=R ₀(Q3),

R(Q4)=R ₀(Q4)+w(Q4,Q1)×R(Q1)+w(Q4,Q3)×R(Q3),

R(Q5)=R ₀(Q5)+w(Q5,Q1)×R(Q1)+w(Q5,Q2)×R(Q2),

R(Q6)=R ₀(Q6)+w(Q6,Q5)×R(Q5)+w(Q6,C2)×R(C2),

R(C1)=R ₀(C1)+w(C1,Q5)×R(Q5),

and

R(C2)=R ₀(C2)+w(C2,Q4)×R(Q4)+w(C2,C1)×R(C1).  (5)

Equations (5) cannot be solved directly in the same manner as equations(1) and (2), and equations (3) and (4), because the ranking R(Q2)depends on the question ranking R(Q6) that depends on the questionranking R(Q5) that depends in turn on the question ranking R(Q2), i.e.there is at least one closed loop of links Equations (5) can bepresented in the matrix form:

(I−A)×R=R ₀,  (6)

where R is a ranking vector [R(Q1), R(Q2), R(Q3), R(Q4), R(Q5), R(Q6),R(C1), R(C2)]^(T) (^(T)=transposition), R₀ is a known initial rankingvector [R₀(Q1), R₀(Q2), R₀(Q3), R₀(Q4), R₀(Q5), R₀(Q6), R₀(C1),R₀(C2)]^(T), I is a unit matrix, and A is a matrix whose non-zeroelements are the link weight factors, e.g. w(C2, C1), presented inequations (5). Equation (6) can be solved with standard methods of thelinear algebra, e.g. by forming an inverse matrix (I−A)⁻¹ or with aniterative method.

Whilst the link rankings associated with the various answers to thequestions are not shown in FIG. 8 and do not appear in equations (5), itwill be appreciated that the ranking of any given question Qn willinherit the link ranking information associated with the variousquestions on the basis of, for example, the relationships expressed inequation (1).

FIG. 9 shows an example profiling network N1, for which responses havebeen received in relation to questions Q1, Q2, Q4, Q5, Q6, the linksbetween these questions and categories C1, C2 having been createdentirely on the basis of responses received to questions sent by themessage processing component 505. More specifically, the messageprocessing component 505 has received N1 messages by way of responseA1(1) to question Q1; M1 messages by way of response A1(2) to Q1; N2messages by way of response A2(1) to question Q2; M2 messages by way ofresponse A2(2) to Q2; N3 messages by way of response A3(1) to questionQ3; M3 messages by way of response A3(2) to Q3; N4 messages by way ofresponse A4(1) to question Q4; N5 messages by way of response A5(1) toQ5; N5 messages by way of response A5(2) to Q5; and N6 messages by wayof response A6(1) to question Q6.

In this example the link rankings assigned to respective links betweenquestions is calculated by the linking component 503 on the basis of thetotal number of responses received and numbers of responses matching thevarious possible answers to a respective question. Thus in the case ofanswers A1(1) and A1(2) to Q1, the link ranking associated with A1(1) isN1/(N1+M1) and that associated with A1(2) is M1/(N1+M1). FIG. 9 can beinterpreted, for example, in such a way that there are N1 parallel linksfrom Q1 to Q4, M1 parallel links from Q1 to Q5, N2 parallel links fromQ2 to Q5, etc.

The equations for the question and category rankings can be formulated,for example, as follows:

R(Q1)=R ₀(Q1),

R(Q2)=R ₀(Q2),

R(Q4)=R ₀(Q4)+w(Q4,Q1)×N1/(N1+M1)+R(Q1),

R(Q5)=R ₀(Q5)+w(Q5,Q1)×M1/(N1+M1)+w(Q5,Q2)×N2/(N2+M2)+R(Q1)+R(Q2),

R(Q6)=R ₀(Q6)+w(Q6,Q2)×M2/(N2+M2)+R(Q2),

R(C1)=R ₀(C1)+w(C1,Q5)×N5/(N5+M5)+R(Q5),

and

R(C2)=R ₀(C2)+w(C2,Q5)×M5/(N5+M5)+w(C2,Q6)+R(Q5)+R(Q6).  (7)

Any given link weight factor, e.g. w(Q4, Q1), shown in FIG. 9 can beset, for example, on the basis of demographic data related to therecipients and/or a ratio between a number of recipients who haveanswered a certain question and a total number of recipients to whomthis question has been delivered. For example, in a case in which thequestion Q1 has been delivered to NQ1 recipients the link weight factorsw(Q4,Q1) and w(Q5,Q1) can be set as w(Q4,Q1)=w(Q5,Q1)=(N1+M1)/NQ1because Q1 has been answered by N1+M1 recipients. This exemplifying wayof setting the link weight factors corresponds to providing FIG. 9 witha “sink” that does not have any links to questions and to recipientcategories, and a link pointing from a question to the “sink” is seteach time when a recipient does not answer a question, i.e. a link froma question to the “sink” corresponds with the “no answer”—case.

The link rankings that can be calculated from equations (7) can beinterpreted to represent average link rankings for all those recipientsthat have answered the questions Q1, Q2, Q4, Q5, and Q6.

ADDITIONAL DETAILS AND MODIFICATIONS

Whilst in the above embodiments the content items are shown as messageswith content that can be paraphrased as questions, it is to beappreciated that the content items could comprise data having links(URL) to web sites and the like, and for which, clicking on a given URLhas the effect of navigating the recipient to the web site. The web sitecan have rules associated therewith, which determine a response based onthe user action. There might be several possible responses, eachassociated with a particular URL, which are stored in the database 22and processed in the manner described above. Further, each of thecontent items, in this case URLs to web sites, can be linked to otherURLs to form the profiling network N1 in any of the manners describedabove.

As described above, the profiling system S2 comprises a set of computersoftware components, and these can be e.g. created in accordance with aprocedural programming language or an object oriented programminglanguage.

The components so created can be stored in a computer readable mediumand/or distributed over a network by means of conventional transporttechniques. The computer readable medium can be e.g. a CD-ROM (CompactDisc Read Only Memory) or a RAM-device (Random Access Memory).

While there have been shown and described and pointed out fundamentalnovel features of the invention as applied to embodiments thereof, itwill be understood that various omissions and substitutions and changesin the form and details of the processes and devices described may bemade by those skilled in the art without departing from the inventiveidea defined in the independent claims. For example, it is expresslyintended that all combinations of those process steps or device elementswhich perform substantially the same function in substantially the sameway to achieve the same results are within the scope of the invention.Moreover, it should be recognized that process steps and device elementsshown and/or described in connection with any disclosed form orembodiment of the invention may be incorporated in any other disclosedor described or suggested form or embodiment as a general matter ofdesign choice. The specific examples provided in the description givenabove should not be construed as limiting. Therefore, the invention isnot limited merely to the embodiments described above, many variantsbeing possible without departing from the inventive idea defined in theindependent claims.

1. A system for characterizing respondents according to at least onepredetermined characteristic of a respondent, the system having accessto a profiling network comprising a plurality of nodes, at least somesaid nodes being connected to other said nodes by means of links,wherein the plurality of nodes comprises nodes of a first type and nodesof a second, different, type, the nodes of the first type each having atleast one link connected thereto and being associated with a saidcharacteristic of a respondent, one or more of the links a) carrying alink value indicative of a relationship between the nodes connected bysaid link and b) being set in dependence on responses received from agiven respondent to questions relating to said nodes of the second type,wherein the system is arranged to evaluate a node value for at least onesaid node of the first type and the second type in dependence on saidlink values associated with a link thereto and on node values associatedwith nodes connected to the node via said link, whereby to identify anode value for said at least one node of the first type.
 2. The systemof claim 1, wherein the system is arranged to define the respondent inrespect of said characteristic on the basis of said node value.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2, wherein said system is arranged to derive a measureof similarity of the given respondent for a characteristic correspondingthereto, whereby to define the respondent in respect of the saidcharacteristic.
 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the nodes of the firsttype are terminating nodes.
 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the nodesof the second type are initial nodes, said initial nodes being nodeswithout links connected thereto.
 6. The system of claim 1, wherein atleast some said link values are non-integer values.
 7. The system ofclaim 1, wherein said nodes of the second type comprise content items.8. The system of claim 7, wherein the content items include contenthaving questions derivable therefrom.
 9. The system of claim 7, furthercomprising a messaging interface arranged to distribute messagescomprising said content items to recipients and to monitor for responsesto same, wherein the system is arranged to set said links in dependenceon the responses and thence propagate and evaluate said node valuesthrough the profiling network.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein thelink values are predetermined.
 11. The system of claim 9, wherein thelink values are evaluated on the basis of said responses to thequestions.
 12. The system of claim 9, wherein the messaging system isarranged to identify recipients of said messages on the basis of contentof the questions and preference data associated with said potentialrecipients.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein at least one node of thesecond type comprises a link from a node of the first type.
 14. Thesystem of claim 1, wherein the system is further arranged to profile therespondents on the basis of the node values associated with said nodesof the first type.
 15. The system of claim 1, wherein the system isarranged to send the node values for said nodes of the first type to anexternal processing system in order to enable the external processingsystem to select the one or more recipients to be targets of apredetermined action as a response to a situation in which the nodevalues of the nodes of the first type fulfill a predetermined condition.16. The system of claim 1, wherein each said link carries a link weightand the system is further arranged to evaluate a node value for eachsaid node of the first type and the second type in dependence on saidlink weight associated with a link thereto.
 17. The system of claim 1,wherein the system is integrated into one of the following: a SMSC (ashort message service centre), a MMSC (a multimedia message servicecenter), an IMS-server (an intelligent messaging system server), anIM-system (instant messaging), and an electronic mail server.
 18. Adatabase comprising a storage system arranged to hold a plurality ofsets of records, a first set of records corresponding to content itemsfor delivery to potential respondents, and a second set of recordscorresponding to potential responses to the content items from actualrespondents, wherein the database comprises an interface for use inspecifying: a first set of links between individual content items of thefirst set and responses of the second set, each said content item beingcapable of having a link to more than one different response of thesecond set and the database being operable to further store first linkdata indicative of a plurality of different links between a givenindividual content item and a corresponding plurality of responses ofthe second set; and a second set of links between individual contentitems of the first set, each said content item being capable of having alink to one or more other content item, the database being operable tofurther store second link data indicative of a plurality of differentlinks between the one content item and a corresponding plurality of saidother content items.
 19. The database of claim 18, wherein the interfaceis further operable for use in specifying a third set of links betweenat least some said individual content items of the first set andcharacteristics of a respondent.
 20. The database of claim 18, whereinthe database is operable to store said first link data specifying adirection of linking between said given individual content item and saidplurality of responses of the second set.
 21. The database of claim 18,wherein the database is operable to store said second link dataspecifying a direction of linking between said one content item and saidplurality of other content items.
 22. The database of claim 19, whereinthe database is operable to store said third link data specifying adirection of linking between linked content items and said categories.23. The database of claim 18, wherein the interface is further operableto receive data indicative of values associated with said first set oflinks, said second set of links and said third set of links and thedatabase is arranged to store said value data in association with thecorresponding set of links.
 24. A method of characterizing respondentsaccording to at least one predetermined characteristic of a respondent,the characteristic being stored in a system having access to a profilingnetwork comprising a plurality of nodes, at least some said nodes beingconnected to other said nodes by means of links, wherein the pluralityof nodes comprises nodes of a first type and nodes of a second,different, type, the nodes of the first type each having at least onelink connected thereto and being associated with a said characteristicof a respondent, one or more of the links a) carrying a link valueindicative of a relationship between the nodes connected by said linkand b) being set in dependence on responses received from a givenrespondent to questions relating to said nodes of the second type, themethod comprising: evaluating a node value for at least one said node ofthe first type and the second type in dependence on said link valuesassociated with a link thereto and on node values associated with nodesconnected to the node via said link, whereby to identify a node valuefor said at least one node of the first type.
 25. The method of claim24, including deriving a measure of similarity of the given respondentfor a characteristic corresponding thereto, whereby to define therespondent in respect of the said characteristic.
 26. The method ofclaim 24, wherein said nodes of the second type comprise content items.27. The method of claim 26, wherein the nodes of the first type areterminating nodes, the method further comprising: distributing messagescomprising said content items to recipients and monitoring for responsesto same; in response to said responses, configuring said links independence on the responses; identifying a path through the profilingnetwork on the basis of the configured links; and evaluating node valuesassociated with the identified path, so as to identify a node value forsaid at least one node of the first type.
 28. The method of claim 24,including evaluating the link values on the basis of said responses tothe questions.
 29. The method of claim 24, comprising profiling therespondents on the basis of the node values associated with said nodesof the first type.
 30. The method of claim 24, further comprisingselecting the one or more recipients to be targets of a predeterminedaction as a response to a situation in which the node values of thenodes of the first type fulfill a pre-determined condition.
 31. Themethod of claim 24, wherein each said link carries a link weight, andthe method comprises evaluating a node value for each said node of thefirst type and the second type in dependence on said link weightassociated with a link thereto.
 32. A computer program, or a suite ofcomputer programs, comprising computer code means adapted to perform thesteps of the method of claim 24 when said program is run on a computeror on a suite of computers.
 33. A computer readable medium comprisingthe computer program of claim 32.